Harp.



W. I. KIRK.

HARP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEIO, 1912.

1,167,504. Patented e12111.11, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 21 UNITED sTATEs rAT 'r OFFICE.

WALTERI. -KIRK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO LYON.&-HEALY, OF CHICAGO,

Y ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS:

HARP.

Application fi1ed .l'une 10, 1912. 7 Serial No. 702,670.

resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in- Harps, of which the follow.- ing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in harps.v 7

One of the features of my invention is the provision of an improved construction of reinforcing truss for use in harps. In such instruments it is necessary that the sounding board he of suiiicient strength and rigidity to withstand the pull of the strings which are attached to the bridge. Furthermore, it is advantageous that this required strength be obtained without unduly increas ing the weight of the soundingboard. It is found that if the weight of the board is increased, the volume of the tone of the harp is correspondingly diminished.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a reinforcing or strengthening truss for a harp whereby the requisite strength and rigidity can be obtained without unduly increasing the weight of the truss.

A further object of my invention is to provide improved means for mounting and securing the sounding board and truss to the base of the harp, whereby the parts are securely held in their relative positions.

These and other objects of my invention will be more readily understood by having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which--- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a harp embodying the features of. my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 in' Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail View showing the construction of the-truss. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modified form of my invention. Fig. 6 is a detail View of pass the strings '13. These strings are secured to the back of the sounding board 12 in any suitable manner, such as by merely knotting the end of the string to prevent its being pulled through the opening in the sounding board. A reinforcing strip 14 is provided on thefront of thesounding board, while mounted upon the rear of the sounding board is the reinforcing or strengthening truss 15 to which the strings are secured. This truss is of novel construction and comprises a fiat central portion 16 and side flanges 17. These side flanges, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, are of maximum height near the lower portion of the truss where the bass strings are secured thereto as it is at the point that-the] greatest strength is necessarily required. :They gradually diminish in Width as they approach the upper end of the truss and terminate near the upper end portion thereof. By this construction I obtain the requisite strength and rigidity to withstand the pull caused by the tension of the strings, and yet the weight of the truss or of the sounding board is not unduly increased.

The column is carried by a pair of stirrups 18, which are provided with laterally extending upper end portions 19 which are secured to the body frame 20. The lower end of these stirrups extend beneath the top plate 21 of the base 11. Secured to the back of the truss and extending downwardly from the lower end thereof, there is a hook '22 which engages beneath the body frame.

20. By this construction it will be seen that the parts are rigidly held together, and the sure of the column, while the hook 22 pulls upward on the body framedue to the pull of the strings.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7, I have shown a modified form of truss construction. With this modified construction I obtain the requisite strength of truss by adding a reinforcing strip or unit which preferably extends the entire length of the sound-board. In this form of my invention the reinforcing strip 23 is made of suflicientstrength to withstand the tension of the upper strings, and then the truss member 24 is secured to the lower part of the reinforcing strip where the greatest strength is needed. This reinforcing truss 24.- is provided with a hook 24c which engages beneath the body frame 20 in a manner similar to the hook 22 in Fig. 3. This truss is preferably of substantially the same construction as the truss 17 heretofore described-that is, of substantially U-shape construction.

The truss members and reinforcing strip can be made of any suitable material, such as wood or metal. I find, however, that when metal is employed that it is necessary, in order to maintain the proper quality of the tone of the harp, to insert a strip of sound deadening or absorbing material 25 made of felt or rubber or the like between this auxiliary truss 9A and the main reinforcing member 23. By this construction I eliminate all the metallic sounds which might arise through the use of such a metallic truss member.

\Vhile I have illustrated one particular embodiment of my invention, it is understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction shown and described.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a harp, the combination of a base, a pedestal, a neck, a sounding-board extending between the base and neck, a reinforcing member for the sounding-board extend- 3 ing substantially the length thereof, a truss member superposed on said reinforcing member and extending from the base a distance less than the length of the relnforcing member, and comprismg a. strip having spaced flanges, and harp strings tensioned reinforcing member and said truss member.

:2. In a harp, the combination of a base, a neck, a soundingboard extending from the base to the neck, a reinforcing truss member in the rear of said sounding-board extending from the base, a reinforcing strip interposed between the sounding-board and truss member, and harp strings extending from said neck through the sounding-board and attached to said truss member and reinforcing strip.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 5th day of June, 191.2.

IVALTER I. KIRK.

WVitnesses H. A. SWENARTON, E. H. CLEGG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1). Cl

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